A Big Gift to a Little Giver
by Laties228
Summary: Just an idea that put together for a college class, which is based on II Chronicles 33:21 – 34:2. This story will hopefully provide its audience a closer look into the crowning of the youngest king in the land of Judah: Josiah. Warning: this is a piece of flash-fiction and does mention death due to the parameters of the context.


Josiah always made it a top priority to wear his crown no matter where he went, as it signified his status as a king to all people. Nevertheless, the position of King comes with many responsibilities, such as dealing with financial issues throughout the kingdom, retaining good diplomatic relations with neighboring kingdoms, and maintaining a ready defense in the case that one of them makes an assault against his kingdom. However, the benefits almost always overtook the possibility of loss and damage. There were days that servants, who served under the King's officials, would come and spend time with him, helping him to develop concepts of leadership, peace and how to retain it throughout the kingdom. Other days, these servants would provide a map of the kingdom and its surrounding areas: the servants would imagine that enemy forces were located at certain cities, and they would ask the King how he would eliminate the threat with the least resistance possible. The people loved him, other nations respected him, and everything was right in the world.

"Josiah, supper is ready!" A woman calls out, but the King remained silent, pretending not to hear her.

Well, almost everything. The servants quickly and quietly gathered their things and slipped out of the room. Although these servants knew the punishment for their actions, they knew of a greater scheme that was in action, and they did not want Josiah to be involved as well. As Josiah looked out from his balcony upon the city, he noticed that crowds of people were scattered across his country, with each crowd surrounding an idol. However, in the center of the city, there was one temple that no one was gathering around. Yet, as his curiosity piqued, something was heading towards his room.

"Josiah!" A man's voice shouted from the doorway, startling the King. "Are you still goofing around here in your bedroom?"

"I'm pretending to be like you, father." Josiah answered. "I'm pretending to rule over all the kingdom."

"Once you grow a little bit older and become more mature, we shall see. For now, your mother has been calling you." The father says, revealing why he startled his son. "You are late for dinner."

"Yes, father." Josiah replied, taking one last look over the city as his eyes rested over the temple for a moment before following his father to the dining quarters.

Supper was a simple affair; there was no conversation, even though Josiah's eighth birthday had just gone by the week prior. After the meal was finished and his parents were gone, Josiah decided to take the tableware down to the kitchen to wash them. He disliked how his parents always seemed to talk down to the servants, as though they were better than them. As Josiah was washing the dishes while standing on a stool, two servants were making their way back into the kitchen. The door protecting him from the servants' view was only about 3 meters away. Josiah knew that the servants came from several different cultures that spoke different languages; he learned this from talking with many of them when his parents were away. However, the servants had a tendency to switch languages in the middle of sentences when they couldn't convey a word or a concept in the language they were using at the time, so he leaned forward to try to hear them better. Although he could not make out what they were saying, whether it be due to their quietness or using a language that he did not understand, he had heard three words that were more pronounced than the others: 'kitchen,' 'unlocked,' and 'officials.'

Unfortunately, in the midst of trying to lean closer while continuing to clean the tableware, Josiah fell into the sink. The servants instantly stopped their conversation and slowly opened the door, afraid yet curious as to who might have made the noise. Imagine their surprise to see Josiah's feet kicking out from the top of the sink, soaking himself, the counter, and the floor with soapy water and a near-empty container of soap spilt on the floor. After helping the boy finish his work, the servants redressed him in clothes matching what he had been wearing before coming down and thanked Josiah for his good effort. When the two servants were sure that Josiah was gone, they looked at each other, knowing that they had almost done something terribly wrong. They had both quickly made their way back to the city, to where officials discussed issues and concerns about the kingdom before offering solutions to the crown, to amend their plan.

As Josiah was walking back into the dining quarters, Josiah's father said, "Woman, I'm going down to give our sacrifices to the gods. I shall not be home until after dark."

"But Amon, didn't you promise Josiah that you would take him with you?" The mother asked, raising the son's interest.

"I'm sorry, but Josiah isn't old enough to go to the Asherah poles yet; he must stay home with you."

Although neither Josiah nor his mother were pleased with Amon's actions, there was nothing they could do. It was not until after sunset that Amon returned to the palace, where his wife and Josiah were already asleep, and went to bed as well.

The next morning, as the servants were doing their rounds about palace, the king's bedroom door was slightly ajar. Inside, the two servants found Amon and his wife were murdered in their sleep. One of them rushed to check on Josiah while the other ran to proclaim the news to the other officials and the rest of the kingdom. Josiah had proved to be wiser than his parents that day, and had also grown into maturity as well.


End file.
